What Are Commodities Telling Us?

Most commodities -- not just gold and oil -- have rallied strongly in recent months. Since commodities are usually an early warning system, that has implications for the economy and stock prices, too, says Michael Kahn.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN what people think and what people do. Obviously the latter is much more important and so far, the market is sinking on the lack of buyers rather than the power of sellers. Volume on the recent selloff has been modest.

No doubt the situations in Iraq and North Korea are dominating investors' moods. Now, with a new call to arms from al Qaeda and allegedly Osama bin Laden himself, fear appears to have taken over as the driving force behind the economy, as Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan...